Why Report hits Yutong electric buses
What emerged from an investigation by the program Report on Rai3 on the electric buses of the Chinese company Yutong
Last October 3, an electric tourist bus, rented by the HU campsite in Marghera, was involved in a road accident which caused 21 deaths and 18 injuries. The driver, forty-year-old Alberto Rizzotto, who had worked for the Martini Bus company for seven years, also died in the accident. The Venice Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating the matter and the investigators are examining the hypotheses of a technical failure and an illness on the part of the driver, on whose body a new autopsy will be carried out.
Report , the Rai Tre program, was also interested in the matter and in the episode on Sunday 29 October investigated the functioning and training of the drivers who drive the electric buses of the companies headed by the manager Massimo Fiorese.
ELECTRIC BUSES WILL ARRIVE IN VENICE IN 2022 WITH YUTONG
In 2022, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro inaugurated the arrival in Venice of electric buses like the one that fell from the Vempa viaduct . The model is E12, produced by the Chinese giant Yutong. They arrived in Italy in 2021 and are active in several cities: Udine, Bergamo and Padua. They are marketed in our country by Powerbus, a company attributable to Massimo Fiorese, CEO of Martini Bus, the bus company crashed by the flyover. The Martini Bus company is controlled by La Linea, which is 40% owned by Massimo Fiorese. There are 20 units active in Venice, which the La Linea company uses as shuttles for tourists but also as buses for public transport. The company, in fact, has a procurement contract with the Municipality worth 3.5 million euros per year for 9 years.
ELECTRIC BUSES RESPONSIBLE FOR 10% OF PUBLIC LAND TRANSPORT
Electric buses cover approximately 10% of all public ground transport. “Just under a million km traveled annually – says Gianfranco Bettin, Venice city councilor of the progressive green group -. A very important, complex service in which traffic is very intense and also differentiated."
THE SECOND YUTONG ELECTRIC BUS ACCIDENT
On an urban route, less than ten days after the tragedy of October 3, a Yutong bus, identical to the one involved in the Vempa viaduct accident, crashed into a portico pillar. The driver declared that he had felt ill and that he saw everything white. Last June, another La Linea driver caused a rear-end collision on the state road by declaring that the bus's brakes had not worked. But not only that, in recent months some drivers have reported to the company some difficulties encountered while driving the bus.
THE DIFFICULTIES OF LA LINEA DRIVERS IN OPERATING THE BUS: THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL IS WRITTEN IN CHINESE
The Rai Tre program Report hosted by Sigfrido Ranucci (in the photo) interviewed an employee of the company for over 20 years who declared that he had detected some difficulties in operating the electric buses. “For me the braking system is not adequate for the weight of the bus, you brake and it doesn't brake – said the driver, whose voice was disguised -. Then if it's wet, you brake and he drives straight, it happened to me. Other anomalies also occurred, warning lights with a red symbol came on which I interpreted as if the power steering was missing, if the power steering is missing the steering wheel locks. We need to see how they did the maintenance." Furthermore, even if you want to clarify your ideas, accessing information on the vehicle is difficult because the instruction manual is written in Chinese.
FROM THE YUTONG WEBSITE PAY ATTENTION TO THE BRAKING SYSTEM OF THE ELECTRIC BUS
As reported by the author of the report, Giulia Presutti, looking through the Yutong website there are no references to manufacturing defects of the coaches or malfunctions, the only precautions for use are in the French section and concern the decelerator or retarder, a system which in addition to the braking system helps to slow down. According to the Chinese company, you need to be careful because the retarder can overheat if it is subjected to a lot of stress. An expert driver of electric buses, contacted by Report , explains that the anomalies found occurred especially on slippery surfaces, the retarder would intervene violently, blocking part of the bus and extending braking times and distances. A complex drive that requires expert drivers.
TRAINING COURSES FOR YUTONG ELECTRIC BUS DRIVERS
One of the drivers contacted by Report said that training courses on those buses would not be carried out. “They didn't give us courses, they arrived beautiful but we only tried them the day before and the next day we went around – said the employee with a disguised voice and darkened face -. They explained the braking system and how to use the batteries to us." The meeting with the explanations on the greater attention to be paid to braking took place after the accidents.
RECRUITMENTS AT LA LINEA E UMANA FORMA: THE TRAINING COMPANY THAT OWNED MAYOR BRUGNARO
According to Report, the La Linea company is about to hire new highly trained drivers. In Venice there is a high-level Academy managed by the Umana Forma company which, with a 230-hour course, will enable new drivers to drive who will be able to collaborate with local companies in the future. “Umana is the empire founded by mayor Brugnaro, controlled by LB, a holding company that bears the initials of the mayor – they say from Report -. To avoid conflicts of interest in 2017, Mayor Brugnaro entrusted his actions to a trustee, the American lawyer Ivan Anthony Sacks”. The passage, as the money laundering expert Gian Gaetano Bellavia explains, would have taken place through an operation called a blind trust which leaves the shares in the mayor's property.
UNIONS DEMAND MORE TRAINING FOR ELECTRIC BUS DRIVERS
Following the drivers' testimonies, the Venetian general union sent a letter to the La Linea company asking the company to organize training courses for driving the E12 Yutong buses. “Given that it seems to be established that driving an electric bus is not like driving a traditional one as it is essential that bus drivers must acquire specialized skills and knowledge in driving these vehicles to bridge the gap between internal combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles – we read in the union's statement -. Given that such courses would enable drivers to develop the skills needed to safely and efficiently drive electric and also develop various advanced and defensive driving techniques when dealing with braking situations, maneuvers and control of technological aids. For all of the above, we hereby invite the company to organize training courses for driver personnel, before they are put back into service, with the support and aid of qualified personnel". In fact, the buses will return to the road after the temporary suspension decided by the Municipality for investigations.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/perche-report-tampona-i-bus-elettrici-yutong/ on Mon, 30 Oct 2023 13:31:56 +0000.